The present invention relates generally to suture-material dispensers. More particularly, the invention concerns a novel suture-material-dispenser system for dry suture material in which the dry suture material is packaged with a desiccant. The disclosures of my prior filed U.S. Pat. applications Ser. Nos. 08/175,964 and 08/497,432 are incorporated herein by reference.
Generally speaking, the present invention is usable for all surgical applications, but it is particularly suited for use by veterinary surgeons, as will be better understood from the description below. For that reason, the present invention will be described in the context of use by veterinary surgeons. As used below, the word sterile or sterilization means that degree of sterility which is found acceptable in veterinary surgery.
Conventional suture dispensers are well known. Such dispensers are characterized by having relatively large dimensions, and are constructed for holding wet suture material, one type of conventional suture material that is packaged in an alcohol-based solution. The other type is dry suture material and it will be discussed below in connection with the present invention.
To sterilize wet suture material in conventional, so-called "wet-pack" dispensers, an extreme procedure must be followed which involves irradiating the filled dispenser with gamma-ray radiation. Such a procedure is extreme because it tends to modify or adversely affect the molecular structure of the suture material. After irradiation, suture material from conventional "wet packs" tends to become weaker and stiffer, which makes it more difficult for a surgeon to work with. The integrity of the material is also compromised. Such an extreme sterilization procedure is required because there is no other known way to sterilize wet suture material.
Conventional dispensers, or "wet packs", are also disfavored because the wet suture material is messy, relatively heavy and flammable.
Conventional dispensers also require a two-handed operation for dispensing and cutting suture material. Essentially, the user, such as a surgeon or other surgical health care professional, holds the dispenser while removing a desired amount of suture material from the supply contained within the dispenser. Next, the user grasps a cutting instrument such as a pair of scissors and cuts the desired amount from the supply.
None of the conventional dispensers is designed for one-handed dispensing and cutting operation, and none is constructed for holding dry suture material.
In brief summary, one embodiment of the invention includes a suture-material-dispenser system for a supply of dry suture material with a housing and a gas-permeable, resilient member. The housing defines a cavity for containing a supply of such material, and it includes a top region that has an opening formed in it. The gas-permeable, resilient member has a body that fits sealingly within the opening, and the body has formed in it a suture-material-dispensing port for allowing suture material to be dispensed therethrough. The port is preferably formed as a slit with a length of about 2-6 mm.
The body assumes a pre-dispense condition and a dispense condition, and the body is formed from a substance with a memory characteristic allowing that section of the body adjacent the port to deform when the body is in the dispense condition, thus to minimize degradation of suture material during dispensing operation. The memory characteristic also allows the body to return substantially to its undeformed state when the body is in its pre-dispense condition, thus to seal substantially the cavity from contaminant.
The invention preferably also includes the following other features. An anti-contaminant, flip-top cover is pivotably attached to the top region, and is constructed for releasable closure over the top region substantially to prevent contaminants from entering the cavity. The cover also includes a downwardly extending, elongate pressure applicator with a bottom surface that presses against the resilient member adjacent the port when the cover is closed over the top region. The top region also includes a lip that extends outwardly from the housing, and the cover includes a downwardly extending expanse that is engageable with the lip to obtain such releasable closure.
An on-board cutter preferably is attached to the housing adjacent the resilient member for allowing the user to cut a desired dispensed amount of material from such supply. The resilient member preferably is formed from a material such as liquid-injection-molded silicone, which material is ethylene-oxide-gas permeable, and has the above-described memory characteristic. The resilient member also preferably is formed from a material with a hardness in the range of about 40-80 on a Shore A durometer.
Another aspect of the invention includes the above suture-material-dispenser system and the supply of dry suture material. That version of the invention also includes a reel fittable within the cavity, and having wound on it the supply. The housing also includes a bottom region and a semi-circular bearing positioned in the bottom region for supporting the reel. The reel includes a region for receiving desiccant to protect the suture material from excess moisture.
The advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the accompanying drawings and the following description of the preferred embodiment.